The Fulton East Project by Parkside Realty, Inc. Chairman and CEO Bob Wislow

In the latest episode of Real Estate for Breakfast, host Phil Coover is joined by living Chicago real estate legend Bob Wislow. Phil and Bob discuss the properties managed and developed by Parkside Realty throughout Chicago, including the ground-up development of Fulton East – a 12 story commercial building including 5,000 square feet of retail, 3 levels of enclosed parking and 8 stories of office space. The top is crowned with an 8,000 square feet outdoor space. Fulton East is the nation’s first office building designed to deliver health-focused operating solutions for the post-COVID-19 business environment, and is receiving national publicity and attention. Each of the 10,605 square foot floor plans enable flexible, custom planning options to accommodate safe social distancing. State-of-the-art wellness features include a hands-free elevator system and air and surface disinfection systems housed within a beautiful glass and steel grid exterior design that fits the historic district where the property is located.

Bob Wislow is chairman and CEO of Parkside Realty, Inc.

In 1978, Bob Wislow and Camille Julmy founded U.S. Equities Realty which they, together with Nancy Pacher, grew to be Chicago’s largest, privately-owned commercial real estate services firm. U.S. Equities has been responsible for a number of major projects including the development of the Harold Washington Library Center, Spertus Institute of Jewish Studies, Center For Care & Discovery and Comer Children’s Hospital at the University of Chicago, Poetry Foundation and John Stroger Hospital for Cook County; co-development of One Financial Place , Grand Plaza and The Cook County Hospital Headquarters and Clinic Building;  and the redevelopments of the John Hancock Center, Willis Tower, 20 North Michigan, and 840 N. Michigan in Chicago; as well as overseeing the development of Compuware’s Headquarters in Detroit, Bank Boston’s Headquarters in both Argentina and Brazil, 618 S. Main in Ann Arbor, and in partnership with Clayco Centene’s Headquarters in St. Louis.

In Spring 1999, U.S. Equities was retained by Millennium Park Inc., (the group representing the Park’s private donors) to oversee the design, engineering, fabrication and construction of Frank Gehry's Pritzker Pavilion and BP Bridge, Anish Kapoor’s monumental Cloud Gate sculpture and Jaume Plensa’s Crown Fountain. 

In addition to development and project management services the firm provided tenant representation, asset and property management, leasing, real estate consulting, and financial and investment services. Its Chicago headquarters, directly across from Millennium Park, housed original works of art, including paintings, prints and sculpture by over 150 artists. Through its annual Artist in Residence program, the company commissioned artists to create original, limited edition books related to the cities where the firm did projects. 

After nearly four decades of success in Chicago, Wislow and his partners merged their firm into CBRE, the world's largest commercial real estate services firm, in the summer of 2014. At the time, U.S. Equities leased and managed 17 million square feet of Chicago property, including Willis Tower, 2.5 million square feet of office and retail space along Michigan Avenue, Union Station, Metra Market, and six Illinois tollway oases. The successfully merger brought more than 400 U.S. Equities employees under the CBRE flag. 

In August 2019, after five successful years with CBRE, that includes projects like the World’s largest Starbucks Roastery on Michigan Avenue, Wislow and Julmy formed a new, boutique real estate venture called Parkside Realty Inc. The real estate veterans will maintain their portfolio and develop new projects, such as Fulton East, a 12-story, 90,000-square-foot office and retail building under construction at 215 N. Peoria Street, in the heart of Chicago’s Fulton Market.

A native Chicagoan, Wislow is known by friends as a dedicated heli-skier, road biker and fly fisherman, an avid arts supporter and longtime dedicated steward for civic engagement in Chicago. He has, or is serving, on the boards of many organizations and institutions, including the Chicago Public Library Foundation, Rush University Medical Center, Civic Committee, Museum of Contemporary Photography, Civic Consulting Alliance, CHICAGO Symphony Orchestra, Columbia College, North Central College and the Chicago Chamber of Commerce. Wislow has been honored with the Urban Land Institute (ULI) Lifetime Achievement Award, the NAIOP Chicago Award for Excellence, and the Chicago Architecture Foundation (CAF) Legacy Award.  

For more information on the Fulton East project, visit https://fulton-east.com/.

COVID-19 and the Impact on Commercial Real Estate Market with Spencer Levy, Chairman of Americas Research for CBRE and Senior Economic Advisor for CBRE

In this emergency episode of Real Estate for Breakfast, Phil has Spencer Levy, Chairman of Americas Research and Senior Economic Advisor for CBRE, to discuss the imminent recession and COVID-19’s impact on the commercial real estate markets. In the past week, entire cities (San Francisco), bars and restaurants have been shut down across the country, retail companies have voluntarily shuttered (Apple, Nike, Abercrombie and Fitch, etc.), airlines have reduced flights by 40% or more, unemployment is expected to rise, and consumer demand has fallen off a cliff. Spencer comes in to discuss how this will play out on a macroeconomic level, and more specifically, what will happen to the hospitality markets, retail markets, housing markets, senior housing markets, and more. Furthermore, if hospitality and restaurants fail and vacancies rise, will there be a ripple of loan defaults and foreclosures? Spencer also gives us a unique insight on deal flow, the debt and capital markets, and summarizes the COVID-19 impact on commercial real estate.

Spencer Levy is Chairman of Americas Research for CBRE and Senior Economic Advisor for CBRE. He plays an integral role in the development and implementation of the global research strategy and business plan. A CBRE veteran of more than 10 years, Spencer had previously served as Executive Managing Director in the company’s Capital Markets division.

Mr. Levy oversees the analytical activities of the CBRE research community within the Americas region and is responsible for the management of hundreds of professionals who are focused on producing market-leading insight and interpretative analysis on the latest real estate trends. Mr. Levy supports CBRE executives in their decision-making by providing insight into the impact of market trends related to strategic business planning, and analyst call preparation. He serves as principal external spokesperson on real estate issues in the Americas region and has considerable media experience, providing market commentary for many national television, newspaper and internet outlets.

Mr. Levy joined CBRE in 2007 to lead the U.S. Eastern Division of the Capital Markets platform. Since then, he has assumed positions of increasing responsibility. As a part of senior management for the Capital Markets platform, Mr. Levy provided leadership for several areas in the United States and Latin America. Mr. Levy provided additional oversight of Retail, Auction and Investment Banking in the United States. He also directly serves a number of major clients.

Learn more at: http://www.cbre.us/people-and-offices/spencer-levy

Washington Post Article on Impending Recession: https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2020/03/14/recession-economy-coronavirus-jobs/

Finding Space for the Future of Your Business with Jon Milonas of CBRE

In this episode, Phil is joined by Jon Milonas, a Senior Vice President in CBRE’s Tenant Representation Group, the largest commercial real estate firm in the world.  Jon’s Chicago team focuses on helping occupiers of real estate to align their business strategies with their real estate, by identifying the needs and challenges of an organization and couple those needs with finding the right office space.  Jon discusses his approach to clients by asking where businesses see themselves in 5-10 years, and how to help them achieve their vision by finding an appropriate office space for their current and future business.  Jon elaborates by mentioning the two most important questions that his clients should be answering when solving issues from both a challenge and a future goal perspective:  (1) what are their deficiency drivers; and (2) what are their success factors?  Jon stresses the importance of these questions and what it will mean for a business’ future.  Jon authored the book: “Kicking Off Your Office Lease: 6 Proven Steps to Develop a Thorough Strategy and Avoid Costly Mistakes,” which helps to prepare businesses in starting a conversation with their executives and bringing in the right people to run a project.  Jon emphasizes that so much of what business relationships consist of is confidence, and if you have confidence in your relationships, you can strengthen them and move forward toward reaching your real estate goals.

Jon Milonas is a Senior Vice President in CBRE’s Tenant Representation Group in the Chicago Region. Jon focuses his practice on developing comprehensive and strategic real estate plans, structuring and negotiating office leases, and assisting with the renewal, relocation and sublease/buyout of leased properties.  During his career, Jon has completed over two hundred fifty transactions on behalf of local Chicago based organizations as well as national and global organizations such as Willis Towers Watson, PwC, McGraw-Hill Companies, Morningstar, Hewlett Packard, Prudential, and Société Générale. Jon’s team has successfully transacted across a wide array of industries, with a focus in the legal, financial services, insurance, technology and consulting sectors.

Prior to joining CBRE in 2007, Jon worked as an International Representative of the YMCA of the USA, in Valparaiso, Chile. In this role, he was the Spanish-English oral and written translator and participated as a member of the Chilean International Committee facilitating international leadership conferences. 

View more on Jon and CBRE here.

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